Long Bunker Shot Techniques

In this article, we want to outline a few tips on how to handle long bunker shots.

Keep the ball forward in your stance. When getting ready to play a long bunker shot, make sure the ball stays up near the front of your stance. If you allow the ball to move too far back toward your right foot, your swing is going to get steep and you’ll struggle to hit the ball far enough. Of course, when you play the ball from the front of your stance, the risk of hitting the shot thin does go up. So, to counter that risk, make sure to keep your head down and your eyes on the ball all the way through the shot.

Let the right hand work. As you swing down toward the ball, allow your right hand to aggressively fire the club through the hitting area. You are going to need to keep the speed of your swing up if you are going to reach the target, and that will be achieved through the use of right hand action. Remember, the swing should not stop when you contact the sand. Instead, you should rip through the sand, under the ball, and on into the finish.

Treat these hazards seriously. When you see a bunker in a position that would lead to a long bunker shot, play cautiously and respect that hazard just like you would respect a pond or creek. You need to know in advance that leaving yourself a long bunker shot is probably going to cost you a stroke, so it’s best to simply avoid having to play the shot if at all possible. Plan your previous shot around avoiding the bunker in question to reduce the odds of finding that particular trap. You aren’t always going to succeed, of course, but smart game planning may be able to reduce the number of long bunker shots you have to face moving forward.

Most golfers would agree that long bunker shots are no fun at all. Even a skilled player is going to struggle to get up and down in this situation, and even getting down in three can be considered a decent outcome. Without a doubt, the best way to play a long bunker shot is to avoid having to play one in the first place. With that said, we hope the advice in this article will help you perform better in these situations when they do come up. Good luck!